Rachel Kershaw In the first three months of 2019, more than 300 restrictive abortion bills were introduced, proposing everything from making abortion a felony to increasing restrictions on clinics. Recently, the Georgia state legislature moved to join three other states in enacting “heartbeat” bans that will prohibit abortion after fetal pole cardiac activity can […] Read more

Martha Burk We’re living in the most perilous time for abortion rights and reproductive freedom since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. While some erosion of abortion rights has occurred over the decades — parental consent laws, waiting periods, procedure curtailment — the fundamental right has largely been by ruled by the courts, […] Read more

Micah McCoy There is nothing patriotic about holding toddlers at gunpoint. It’s hard to believe that this even needs to be said. But that’s exactly what an armed group of vigilantes calling themselves the “United Constitutional Patriots” … has been doing along the southern border of New Mexico for the past several months. This […] Read more

by Jake Johnson Sparking outcry from indigenous tribes and environmental groups, the Texas state Senate on Monday passed industry-backed Republican legislation that would hit pipeline protestors with a third-degree felony and up to ten years in prison. “Here in Texas, members of the legislative body are looking to pass laws that harshly criminalize free […] Read more

Isabel Segarra Treviño Editor’s Note: Earthjustice co-authored this columnwith Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services and the Colorado Latino Forum. Hydrogen cyanide, or HCN, is a toxic air pollutant emitted by petroleum refineries. HCN is a colorless gas that may smell like bitter almonds, old sneakers, or nothing at all. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency […] Read more

by Scott Downes On a sunny Friday afternoon in mid-March at the Colorado statehouse, newly elected Gov. Jared Polis signed the National Popular Vote Act into law. There were no cameras or media or assembled crowd, and little fanfare or pomp whatsoever. But it was a quiet step in a long march toward more […] Read more

At a recently concluded Capitol Hill press conference this on May 9th, Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), announced the introduction of their House and Senate mining reform bills to modernize the nation’s badly antiquated hardrock mining laws. Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee Chair Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), an original cosponsor of […] Read more

Robert P. Alvarez Should Americans caught up in the justice system be stripped of their right to vote? Senator Bernie Sanders catapulted the issue into the spotlight when he declared his unequivocal support for the voting rights of prison inmates at a recent town hall. “I think the right to vote is inherent […] Read more

by Terri Hansen When Marvin Goings, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Nation in South Dakota, founded a horseback riding group called Slim Buttes Riders for Lakota youth, it began as a way to keep them away from drugs and alcohol. But since a massive storm tore through Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in […] Read more

Jill Richardson A bill in Texas would allow professionals of all kinds — doctors, pharmacists, electricians — to deny services to LGBTQ customers on religious grounds. This comes alongside the Trump administration’s rollout of a rule that would allow health care providers to actually deny service to LGBTQ people on religious grounds. I’m sorry, […] Read more